By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 3: The state government has come under fire from the Voice of the People Party (VPP) for failing to not only exert pressure on the Centre to implement the ILP in Meghalaya but also for not taking any action to stop the districts of Khasi-Jaintia Hills from being removed from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation’s Preamble.
“When we talk about the ILP, the current situation is that the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation’s Preamble no longer includes the word Khasi-Jaintia Hills. As for the current state government, they have not only failed to implement the ILP, but they have also failed to stop the districts of Khasi-Jaintia from being removed from the Preamble of the Regulation,” VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
He said that as of right now, the regulations for Khasi-Jaintia Hills — forget about Garo Hills — do not even mention ILP.
“We are very clear about ILP. We believe that ILP needs to be implemented in the state and we included this in our election manifesto. When we included this in the election manifesto, it does not mean that we put it there just before election but rather that we actually believe that we need ILP,” he said, reiterating that the party is serious about its demand to implement ILP in the state.
The VPP also attacked the succeeding governments for failing to heed the demands for ILP.
“They (central government) did not really believe that ILP is needed in the state because of the past wrongdoings of the Meghalaya government, whether led by the NPP, UDP, or even the Congress. They were discussing ILP merely to keep up with the times following the passage of the CAA in 2019. They had previously taken a completely different stance on ILP,” he continued.
